"Fred Kerley is a manifestation type of dude"- Justin Gaitlin weighs in on the American's bold claim of breaking Usain Bolt's world record

Fred Kerley left fans in shock when he claimed that he was going to set a new world record the next time he raced the 100m, surpassing Usian Bolt's 9.58. While many were quick to dismiss his claims as wishful thinking, former 100m Olympic and World Champion Justin Gaitlin thinks the American might be onto something.

Kerley first made his mark on the track and field world as a 400m runner, claiming several World Championships as part of USA’s 4x400m relay team. In 2020, the American chose to come down to the shorter sprints, a decision that fans questioned.

However, Fred Kerley proved all naysayers wrong, finishing with a silver in the distance at the 2020 Olympics, before going on to claim the 100m World Championship in 2022. His run in Eugene also saw him clock a 9.76 for the gold, tying him for the sixth fastest man in history.

While Kerley had a shaky 2023, failing to qualify for the Budapest World Athletics Championships 100m finals, the 29-year-old seems more than confident in his abilities to return to the top of the game.

On May 15th, he took to X (formerly Twitter) to write,

“World record the next time I touch the 100m.”

Reacting to this bold claim, Justin Gaitlin supported the former World Champion, calling Kerley the mind of person who manifested their reality,

“He is a manifesting type of dude. From years back before he even really got established in the 100. He'd do a lot of this. He would say a lot of things that may leave people scratching their heads. For him to say, next time I touch the 100 it's going to be a World Record, tall order,” he said on his ‘Ready, Set, Go' podcast.

He went on to add that while the target seemed unreachable, it was highly likely that Fred Kerley was doing this in order to provoke haters, which in turn would motivate the sprinter to get back to the top of his game.

‘What if it's a genius plan in his mind to create a lot of doubt in people and have those keyboard warriors firing off at him so then that's going to help him in his training, get stronger, get better. Then maybe he does have an opportunity to be back, to be a top dog in that sport.”

“He is using that ammo to be able to say ‘okay you know what, this is what's helping me get faster, this is what's helping me become a champion. So I'm going to go back to that, I'm going to tap back into that. So all y'all haters, all y'all naysayers, wake up, get back on the keyboard and say whatever the whispers you want to say because I'm back on my grind’.”

When will Fred Kerley next race the 100m?

Fred Kerley is next scheduled to make an appearance in the 100m at the Oslo Diamond League, which is scheduled to take place on the May 30. However, the American has already pulled out of the Stockholm Diamond League, which is slated for June 2, 2024, citing injury issues.

While Kerley hasn't announced a decision to withdraw from the meet in Oslo so far, fans are left wondering if he'll be making an appearance at the Bislett Stadium after all since he's chosen to opt out of a later meet.

As of now, Fred Kerley's Olympic year has seen him make three appearances in the 100m distance. At the Hurricane Invitational, his season opener, he clocked a 10.03 and 10.11, following it up with a 10.17 and a 10.11 at the Xiamen and Suzhou Diamond League meets.